Eyebrows were raised on Wednesday night when the Armenian was left out of the squad to face Basel in the Champions League, despite flying over to Switzerland with the rest of the players the day before.

Mkhitaryan was also left out of the weekend win over Newcastle, throwing his future at United into doubt after a poor few weeks.

And United legend Rio Ferdinand pinpointed exactly why he's being left out before his former club took on Basel.

Speaking on BT Sport, he said: "I think earlier in the season Mkhitaryan was providing assists.

"But importantly when Paul Pogba was out, Jose Mourinho wanted someone to be a creator, and to go out and take games by the scruff of the neck, but he didn't produce in that sense. He was left wanting.